The present invention relates to a battery arrangement structure of a vehicle which comprises a battery to charge electricity.
Conventionally, it is well known that a battery to charge electricity (Nickel metal hydride, Nickel-Cadmium rechargeable battery, Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, Lead-acid battery, for example), is installed to a vehicle, such as automotive vehicles. A capacitor is also known, besides the secondary cell, as such a battery (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-89040, for example).
In many cases, the battery is arranged inside an engine room or a motor room (where a motor to drive an electromotive vehicle is provided) which is positioned at a front portion of the vehicle as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-281806, for example, but there is also a case in which the battery is arranged below a floor of a vehicle compartment as disclosed in the above-described first patent document.
Herein, the battery (the capacitor, in particular) produces some heat, so it is preferable that the battery be cooled as much as possible by vehicle-traveling air. In the case of the battery arranged below the floor of the vehicle compartment, however, it may be difficult to let the vehicle-traveling air flow down toward the battery. Consequently, proper cooling of the battery may not be achieved efficiently.
Thus, it may be preferable that the battery be arranged at the front portion of the vehicle accordingly. However, in the case in which the battery is arranged inside the engine room or the motor room like the prior art descried above, the battery may receive easily an improper thermal influence from the engine provided in the engine room or the motor provided in the motor room. Accordingly, the battery may not be cooled efficiently in this case, either.
Further, in the case in which the battery is arranged at the front portion of the vehicle, it is needed that the battery does not hurt the function of impact absorption in a vehicle frontal collision.